A Little Late Night Television
by sopeavslike
Summary: Percy and Annabeth can't sleep, but the only things on television are some... interesting commercials. Takes place a few weeks or so after they get out of Tartarus.


**Hi friends! This is my first time publishing so go easy on me. Thanks to tumblr user beckendorph for the story idea. And thanks to all my followers on tumblr and my friend who proofread this. Happy Valentine's Day!**

_The Wonder Blender can liquefy anything in a matter of seconds! And with only two payments of 19.99, it's a real steal!_

The tiny flat screen TV glowed, lighting the dark walls of the deserted _Argo II_ dining hall. Leo had set up the television for some light entertainment every once and a while, but it barely ever got used. Most of the time, the _Argo II's_ crew tended to stay out of the hall except for meals and meetings. The moving, real time pictures of Camp Half-Blood Leo had put up on the walls made everyone a little too homesick.

Annabeth was tired. Immensely tired. But she was determined to stay awake, as being asleep wasn't all that easy for her anymore. So Annabeth had snuck down to the dining hall, curled up on the old leather couch Leo had managed to find in some garage sale when they stopped in France for supplies, and turned the TV up as loud as she possibly could without waking up the entire ship.

She had hoped to find something good on TV; something to make her feel better. An old movie that she had enjoyed as a kid, or possibly a few reruns of _Friends_ or _Full House_. To her dismay, all Annabeth could find were a bunch of infomercials, and a recap of the last season of _The Bachelor_. All in all, surfing through all the infomercials seemed more fulfilling than watching a bunch of girls in evening dresses cry.

She was engrossed in a ten minute presentation of a set of travel steak knives when someone spoke from across the hall.

"Can't sleep?" the soft voice murmured from the doorway.

Annabeth looked over to see Percy leaning against the doorframe, rubbing his eyes sleepily. He was wearing sweatpants and a rumpled purple t-shirt, and his black hair was sticking out all over the place. Despite his disheveled appearance, however, Annabeth had to admit he still looked good.

She nodded. "Yeah."

"Nightmares?"

"Yeah," she repeated.

Percy walked from the door to the lumpy leather couch. "Same," he said, as he plopped down beside her.

Things had been so different for Percy and Annabeth after they had gotten out of Tartarus. Sure, Annabeth hadn't expected to perfectly return to the life they had once had, considering all the horrors they had witnessed down in that godforsaken pit.

However, she never realized how isolated she would feel from the other half-bloods. Despite helpful comforts like Piper's wisdom, Jason's strength, Frank's kindness, and the struggles they had all witnessed together, none of them could relate to their experience. Even Hazel, who had spent nearly seventy years in the Underworld, couldn't truly understand the pure terror of being in Tartarus.

So Annabeth never really talked about it much. If it hadn't been for Percy, being there with her and knowing how she felt...well, Annabeth wasn't sure she'd be coping as well as she was.

Something was different between herself and Percy now, too. In Tartarus, they had completely relied on each other. Being separated, even for the shortest time, would have meant certain death. Now, in the real world, Annabeth felt a small sense of panic whenever she didn't know where he was. Being apart from him, even when he was only a few rooms away, made her feel excruciatingly hollow, as if some part of her were missing.

However, the worst of the effects of their time in Tartarus were the nightmares. Endless visions of crawling, fighting, gushing blood, and screams coming from all around her, often made Annabeth cry out in the night, waking herself up in a cold sweat. Piper would sometimes come into her room, trying to comfort her. But she was never able to help much. All Annabeth would want to do was see Percy, as some of the most horrible dreams were about losing him. She shuddered now just thinking about how many times she could have lost him in Tartarus...

As if reading her thoughts Percy put his arm around her shoulders, letting her know he was still there. She leaned into him, comforted by his presence. They sat like that for a solid five minutes, simply taking each other in and being somewhat hypnotized by the footage of an automated salad spinner (_only 19.95!_) that swirled on the screen in front of them.

It was Percy who spoke first. "What in Zeus's name are we watching?" He asked, gesturing to the smiling TV lady now holding a bowl of perfectly tossed salad.

"I really have no idea," Annabeth said, still leaning into him. "To be honest, I don't really care what I'm watching as long as it keeps me awake."

"Hmm."

A few more minutes passed by, as the television lady made about twelve different kinds of salads.

Percy looked down at Annabeth and grinned, a mischievous gleam in his eye. "You want some hot chocolate? I could really go for some hot chocolate."

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Percy, its 3 AM. If you rattle around in the kitchen you're going to wake people up. And if Leo smells chocolate he'll be down here in three seconds."

Percy got up and walked to the tiny kitchen. "Oh please I'll just use the microwave. And everybody's so bone tired that they won't hear a thing."

Annabeth smiled and watched Percy leave. She turned back to the television, seeing that the salad commercial was wrapping up.

All of a sudden, an attractive, muscular blonde man was on the screen. _All you guys out there, the man said, are you ever worried that you won't be performing your best in the bedroom with your lady?_

Annabeth quickly grabbed the remote and switched to another channel (more infomercials, sadly). She glanced nervously back at the kitchen door. For some reason, she was kind of uncomfortable about watching...those kind of commercials with Percy in the room. She wasn't sure why, though. I mean, they would both laugh about it right?  
Right?

As a commercial about self-cleaning pillow cases came on, Percy returned, carrying two steaming mugs of hot chocolate.

"Drink up, Wise Girl," he said, handing her a cup as he sat back down on the couch. "And I put some pizza rolls in the microwave for us."

Annabeth smirked. "Pizza rolls? Really?"

Percy shrugged as he sipped his cocoa. "Hey, if we're up, might as well have some fun."

He put his arm around her shoulders again, and they both watched the television comfortably. That is, until another questionable ad appeared.

"Hey now," Percy said, as a pretty Asian woman showed up on screen, showing off the lacy bra with matching panties that she was wearing.

"Oh shut up," Annabeth teased. However, she was surprised to find that she was not embarrassed, like she thought she would have been. Rather, she was amused and...slightly intrigued.

_Hey ladies, need a new way to spice things up in the bedroom?_ The TV woman asked.

"Hell yeah," Percy responded jokingly. Annabeth snorted.

_Then check out __, where you can get all the odds and ends to make the nighttime the best time!_

"Oh I certainly will. I think I am lacking an overpriced lacy thong," Annabeth scoffed.

Percy laughed. "Same here."

He picked up the remote and changed the channel, only to be greeted by another suggestive commercial.

_Do you ever get lonely at night?_ a busty brunette woman in lingerie cooed seductively from the TV screen while clutching to a stripper pole.

"Oh gods," Annabeth groaned, as the woman began to pole dance awkwardly.

_If you do_, a different woman, this time wearing a sexy bunny outfit. _Call us at the Midnight HOTline, and you'll always have a honey bunny to talk to_.

The brunette continued to pole dance as Annabeth slapped her hand over Percy's face. "Percy, hide your innocent little eyes. There's too much grinding."

Percy pulled away from her, laughing. "Please, Annabeth. I consider myself very mature."  
"Yeah right."

_Just call 227-6907, for all the nighttime pleasure you need. And remember, if you want heat, just call the HOTline._

"I wonder what they would do if we called and asked for medium cheese pizza," Annabeth mused.

"They'd probably wonder why it was a teenage girl calling."

"I'm sure they accept all types."

"Mmm... Sexy."

Annabeth laughed nonchalantly, but she was also suddenly aware of just how close she and Percy were. She was aware of how he breathed, feeling his chest expand as he inhaled. And then there was her hand, resting on his stomach. She could feel his abdominal muscles, hardened by years of training and fighting. Strong, tense, moving along with his breathing...

Boy, was it getting hot in here?

Percy flipped the channel on the remote again, landing on yet another sexy infomercial.

"C'mon really?" Annabeth complained dramatically.

_So call now, _a buff black guy on the screen said_, as he was embraced by a _tanned, bikini-clad woman. _And you can get the collection of the sexiest, most romantic songs of the last four decades._

_It makes me want the night to last forever_, the woman agreed, wrapping her arms even tighter around the muscular guy. In the background, the song "I Will Always Love You" played pathetically.

"Oh yeah, " Percy scoffed. "Whitney Houston really gets me going."

"Do you think the universe is trying to tell us something with all these steamy commercials?" Annabeth joked.

"Nah," Percy retorted, "Though I wouldn't put it past the gods."

They both laughed again, though now it sounded a little forced. Annabeth still had her hand on Percy's abdomen. Her attention now was on his chest, watching it slowly rise and fall with his breathing. She could feel him gazing down at her, and his hand wrapped more tightly around her waist, bringing her even closer into his embrace. Nearly on top of him now, Annabeth slowly, and a bit awkwardly, ran her hand up his body to his chest. His muscles there were just as tight and toned. She could feel his steady heartbeat getting slowly faster under her palm.

The song on the television had changed to a slow, smooth jazz ballad. Annabeth wasn't much of a fan of that specific genre of music, but right now she could barely hear it.  
Percy shifted to completely face her. With an air of caution he put his other arm around her, pulling her so close that their noses were touching.

Annabeth stared into his sea green eyes. His expression was a mixture of confusion, longing, and utter panic. She was sure she looked the same.  
Blood was pounding in her ears like the ocean waves itself. Man, it was getting hot in there.

From somewhere far away, Annabeth heard the soft _ping! _of a microwave.

"That'll be the pizza rolls," she whispered, not taking her eyes off of Percy's.

"Yep."

"We should probably get them."

"Probably."

"We wouldn't want to them to get cold."

"No..."

Suddenly, they were kissing. It started out slow, but soon began to grow a more and more passionate.

Though they were pretty much experts at quick little smooches, they had never really had the time or privacy enough to do a lot of the full on "make-out" thing. Despite that lack of practice, Annabeth thought Percy was pretty good at it.

His kiss wasn't all hungry and out of control, but soft and gentle, with just a layer of passion hiding somewhere underneath.

She tried to kiss him back in the same way. At first, she worried that she was doing it wrong.

Then Percy slipped his tongue between her lips, and she immediately thought _Oh who the hell cares?_

Annabeth grabbed the collar of Percy's t-shirt and pulled him on top of her. She had tried to be smooth about it, but jerked him a little too hard; their foreheads banged together painfully.

"Ouch," Percy mumbled.

"Sorry!" she whispered, cringing.

"Don't worry about it," he breathed, immediately getting back to the task at hand.

Annabeth leaned back on the couch and let Percy back on top of her. It was surprising how light he actually was, giving all that muscle that was on him. It was less like he was pinning her down and more like he was pulling her up and into him, wrapping his arms around her like a cocoon.

He started to kiss her neck and tug on her shirt as she ran her hands down his back. She reached his hip bones and grabbed the end of his t-shirt. She began to pull it off of him, when suddenly-

_Have you ever looked in your bathroom and been DISGUSTED by all the mold, water damage and soap scum?!_ the television screamed. _Well now that won't be a problem with THE TOILET BUDDY!_

They both jumped at the unexpectedly loud commercial. Annabeth got her hands tangled inside Percy's t-shirt. He had been halfway inside of her shirt already, his hand now stuck in one of the sleeves.

They both pulled away quickly, and stared at each other in complete shock, untilAnnabeth started laughing uncontrollably.

Percy just gaped at her, still stunned.

"So much for Whitney Houston, huh?" Annabeth laughed, trying to stop herself from snorting.

At that Percy flung his head back and laughed too. "Eh, I think Toilet Buddies are pretty hot."

Annabeth grinned. "C'mere Seaweed Brain."

Catching him by surprise, she gripped him by the collar again, this time expertly pulling him towards her and kissing him.

When he kissed her back, she could feel his smile under her lips. Annabeth smiled too, knowing that, at least for tonight, she wouldn't be having any time for nightmares.


End file.
